Port Hudson National Cemetery

GPS Coordinates: 30.660868, -91.274794
County: East Baton Rouge Parish
Record count: 15,850

Ownership: National Cemetery Administration, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

Directions: Located west of Zachary city limits, on the north side of the Georgia Pacific mill, south of the Port Hudson community. The best way there is to take Blues Highway (US-61), then head west along Port Hudson Cemetery Rd, then follow this to the cemetery.

Background: Port Hudson National Cemetery, located seven miles west of Zachary, Louisiana, originated from one of the Civil War's bloodiest sieges. After Confederate forces occupied Port Hudson on August 15, 1862, following their defeat at Baton Rouge, they fortified the strategic river bluffs to control Mississippi River shipping routes.

The 48-day siege began May 23, 1863, when 30,000 Union troops under Major General Nathaniel P. Banks surrounded 6,800 Confederates led by Major General Franklin Gardner. This became the longest siege in American military history, featuring fierce assaults on May 27 and June 14, 1863, before Confederate surrender in July 1863.

The cemetery grounds were first used for burials in 1863, with nearly 4,000 Union casualties interred there. In 1866, the federal government appropriated 8.4 acres and officially designated it a national cemetery. The site was recognized as a National Historic Landmark in 1974.

Burial Records

• View All Transcriptions Combined, 15,850 records
  • Unidentified Burials, by Interment.net, April 17, 2025, (3,241 records)
  • Veterans Affairs Database, by Interment.net, April 17, 2025, (12,609 records)

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